Hale Collins ready for big match on home turf

Hale Collins has the spotlight all to himself this year at Northeast Wrestling’s “Wrestling Under the Stars” event on Saturday at Fishkill’s Dutchess Stadium.

He’ll be wrestling in a No. 1 contender’s match against the 400-plus pound Wrecking Ball Legursky, a former Northeast Wrestling champion. The winner will get a Northeast Wrestling championship match in the Poughkeepsie area in September.

For the last two years, Collins – real name Dale Chapman, who grew up in Pleasant Valley and now lives in Clintondale – teamed with Vik Dalishus (Rob Begley, who grew up in Poughquag and lives in Red Hook). Begley, though, shattered his leg in a freak in-ring accident in December, and has yet to return to action.

“Definitely the cardio,” Chapman said of the biggest difference between tag team wrestling and singles wrestling. “There’s no tagging in and out. It’s all you.”

The match was originally billed as a championship match – but Legursky (real name Spencer Charette) lost the title recently to Jack Swagger.

Chapman had reservations about moving forward in wrestling without his tag team partner and best friend.

“At first, I didn’t want to go wrestle without a partner,” said Chapman, who for other than about a year in 2012, has wrestled mostly in tag team matches. “It was a little selfish on my part. But Vik told me I could really show people what I’m made of, so I definitely had his support and my friends and family said to keep going and keep the brand out there. On the way, I’ve been building a lot of momentum. IO just want to keep the ball rolling and see how it goes.”

Hale Collins(Photo11: ZekeDane Photography)

He took the time this year, to change a few things about his look, and change his persona a bit. He also took on a manager, Kasey Catal (Poughkeepsie’s Kasey McGrory). While she will have her own match at Dutchess Stadium against Tenille Dashwood, Chapman will be accompanied to the ring by WWE Hall of Famer “The Mouth of the South” Jimmy Hart.

“I think Wrecking Ball’s the biggest guy I’ve faced since Viscera,” Chapman said. “I’ve done some homework on him. I’ll focus on getting him off his feet and hopefully, the Wrecking Ball will fall.

"It's going to be great dominating Hale in front of his hometown fans knowing that they can't help him or do anything about it," The Wrecking Ball said.

He added, "“Northeast Wrestling has a tradition of greatness. The shows at Wrestling Under the Stars in Wappingers Falls have had provided many historic matches while drawing thousands of fans. This gives me an opportunity to display my domination on a grand stage”

Being in my hometown, there’s nothing better than always getting an excellent welcome. All chanting NOW. I’ll be traveling 20 minutes to the show and it’s one of the biggest shows in the country. It’s definitely going to be an awesome day.”